Keep Them Out

An hour for the number one — the set position, fast feet and the saves that keep ordinary teams in matches.

Gaelic football
Goalkeepers · Any age
60 min
2–4 keepers + 1 server
1 coach
Effort 4/5
One goal and the 20m in front of it
goalkeeping
shot-stopping
footwork
reflexes
rebounds

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: One goal, 12 footballs, 8 flat cones, gloves if worn

Warm-up10 min

Hands and Feet Awake

Setup: Ball each in front of the goal. Two cones 3m apart for shuffle work. Run this before any diving — keepers get injured in the first ten minutes of lazy sessions, not the last ten of hard ones.

How it works: Two minutes of hand wake-ups: fast finger taps around the ball, figure-eights through the legs, low scoops off the grass. Then footwork: shuffle between the cones taking a chest-high serve at each end, never crossing the feet. Build to ground work — from kneeling, fall and save to each side, then from a crouch, then standing at half pace. Only now is the body ready for real shots.

What to say

“Shuffle, never cross the feet — crossed feet cannot push off.”
“Hands beat the ball to the spot — start them at hip height, palms out.”
“First dives from the knees — earn the full-length ones.”

Easier

All ground work from kneeling; serves by underarm throw.

Harder

Serve two balls alternately so every catch is followed by an immediate reset.

Activity14 min

Set, Step, Save

Setup: Server with six balls at a cone 13m out (11m for juveniles). Keeper in goal, spare keeper behind collecting and counting. Two cones mark the keeper's start spot so every rep begins from the same place.

How it works: The server strikes proper shots — along the ground, mid-height, into the corners — first calling the side, then unannounced. The keeper's job happens before the ball moves: a small split-step landing SET as the striker's head drops, then a step and a save. Eight strikes, swap keepers. Three rounds each, and the standard rises each round: round one called sides, round two unannounced, round three the server may dummy once per set. Count saves aloud; keepers thrive on a number to beat.

The technique, step by step

Feet shoulder-width, weight on the balls of the feet, hands at hip height.
Small split-step as the striker's head drops — land balanced and SET.
Read contact: push hard off the near foot, step towards the ball.
Save with two hands where possible, one strong palm where not.
Up and reset the instant the ball is dead — the next shot is already coming.

Common mistakes

Still moving at the moment of contact — a moving keeper saves nothing but headlines.
Diving around the ball for style — step in and take it early, flat and boring.

Rounds: 3 × 8 strikes per keeper — called, unannounced, then with dummies

What to say

“Set before the strike — stillness at contact is what speed looks like.”
“Save forward — meet the ball in front of the line, never falling back onto it.”
“Can't hold it? Palm it wide of the post, never back across the goal.”

Easier

Serve by throw from 8m, sides always called, no dummies.

Harder

Server strikes first time off a pass from the side, so the keeper must reset their angle every rep.

Activity12 min

Corner to Corner

Setup: Server 10m out with balls stacked. Keeper starts at one post. This is the conditioning block — one keeper works, the rest serve and recover.

How it works: Serve low to the far post; the keeper pushes across the goal, saves, gets up in one movement and immediately shuffles back for the next serve to the opposite corner. Forty seconds of continuous corner-to-corner work, then rest while the others take their turn. Four shifts each. Quality collapses when it's done tired — that's the point, because the second shot of a match scramble always arrives when the legs are gone. Coach the get-up as hard as the save.

Rounds: 4 × 40s work per keeper, recover while the others work

What to say

“Up in one push — hand, knee, drive across. No second bounce on the ground.”
“Eyes to the next ball before the feet move.”
“Strong wrist on low balls — floppy hands spill into the net.”

Easier

20-second shifts, serves by throw, save from a crouch rather than full dives.

Harder

Server varies height without pattern; any spill must be pounced on before the next serve comes.

The rest of this session is free — along with 3 more this week.

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.